The lady held the hand of the ninth young lady of the Jiang family with a smile on her face.

The ninth young lady of the Jiang family stood up straight, her voice as clear as pearls falling on a jade plate: "...I have only read three chapters, Women, Utensils, and Rich and Poor. Daddy said that I should read the others in detail when I am older."

The lady nodded repeatedly as she listened, and smiled at Mrs. Jiang who was sitting beside her, "Mr. Jiang is indeed a scholar."

Mrs. Jiang smiled slightly, revealing the dimples on her cheeks: "Madam, you are too kind. It's just that my daughter is stupid, so I can only teach her simple things."

After hearing this, the ninth young lady of the Jiang family lowered her head and smiled embarrassedly, with a hint of shyness flying across her brows.

The lady looked at her and laughed, "Miss Jiu is so cute and naive. Mrs. Jiang is too modest." Then she glanced at Zhun Ge'er, who was standing beside her and looking at Miss Jiu with curiosity, "This is your sister from the Jiang family!"

Zhun Ge walked forward like an adult, bowed respectfully, and called out "Sister Jiang".

The ninth young lady of the Jiang family raised her head and bowed gracefully.

The lady's smile deepened. She looked up and saw Mother Song standing beside the bamboo curtain with her hands hanging down. She knew that the banquet was ready and said, "Mrs. Jiang is a rare guest. We have prepared some wine and food. Please don't refuse, Mrs. Jiang." As she spoke, she stood up with the help of Mother Du.

Everyone in the room stood up with a rustle. Mrs. Jiang politely declined and then followed the old lady two steps behind and went to the flower hall next to Dianchun Hall.

It is early summer now and the pomegranate flowers are in full bloom.

The lady and Mrs. Jiang were talking about flowers.

Mrs. Jiang nodded and couldn't help but glance at Eleventh Lady who was walking behind her.

She wore a water-green gauze shirt and a moon-white embroidered skirt. There was a faint smile on her bright face, which made her look elegant and peaceful. The fifth young master, whose background was unknown, was held in the arms of the wet nurse and twisted his body to ask her to hold him. She walked over and held the child, whispered a few words softly, and the child calmed down and lay in the wet nurse's arms without moving. She touched the child's head and then hurried over in two steps.

Mrs. Jiang nodded secretly and went into the flower hall with the lady dowager.

Four dried fruits, four pickles, four cold dishes, four side dishes, six hot dishes… the table was full. There were Jiangxi’s famous dish, Sanzai Chicken, and Yanjing’s famous dish, ** pork tenderloin. Finally, a dish of icy red water chestnuts was served on a crystal plate.

Mrs. Jiang was a little surprised.

This red water chestnut is Nanjing's "Eight Fresh Water Chestnuts", which are only available in June. Even if they are transported to Yanjing at full speed, it will take until mid-month. It's only mid-May... It can be seen that the Xu family attaches great importance to this meeting and has put a lot of thought into entertaining me.

Her eyes swept over Zhun Ge, who was sitting at the next table.

The child was born with a good appearance, gentle and elegant eyebrows, polite manners, and knew how to take care of his younger brother's food. It was a pity that he was born thinner and smaller than other children of the same age. I heard that he was born before the full term... If the husband is not in good health, the relationship between husband and wife will inevitably be less happy.

Thinking of this, Mrs. Jiang sighed secretly in her heart.

The sweet red water chestnuts also lose some of their flavor when eaten.

They said they would see each other, but in fact it didn't matter much whether they saw each other or not. This matter was decided two years ago. But the couple was unwilling to give up, and they had to see their future son-in-law before they could feel at ease.

As the thought flashed through her mind, she secretly blamed herself for being greedy.

I knew that nothing is perfect in this world. Before she came, she was afraid that the child's mother died early and everyone would stay away from him, or he would become stubborn because he was raised in his grandmother's house without discipline, or he would be looked down upon and become stupid and timid without support. Now it seems that the lady is kind, the eleventh lady is gentle, and the brothers are respectful and friendly... Mrs. Jiang pondered in her heart and turned her attention to the fifth lady beside her.

This young aunt looked like a person with good manners and decent behavior. She was much better than I had imagined.

Maybe it's because of different standpoints. Shiyi Niang was anxious about Zhen Jie'er's matter, but when it came to Zhun Ge's turn, she was very calm. Firstly, this matter had been decided long ago, and today was just a formality. Secondly, she felt that this society was more harsh on girls - Zhen Jie'er's joy, anger, sorrow and happiness would be controlled by others when she married into someone else's family. She dared not say anything about other people's daughters marrying into her family, but at least she would not deliberately make things difficult for them just to show off her mother-in-law's status.

The two of them had very different thoughts, and after the meal, they became much closer.

Everyone moved to the West Flower Hall to drink tea and talk, and the children, accompanied by Mother Du, Mother Song and others, went to the back garden.

Xu Siyu relied on his age and just stood by and made a note. Zhen Jie'er was gentle and accommodating. The ninth daughter of the Jiang family was still innocent and naive at that age, and she soon became friends with Zhun Ge and Xu Sijie.

She looked at the colorful flowers in the back garden and exclaimed: "It's even more beautiful than the scenery in our Dafu Temple!"

There are very few girls of Zhun Ge's age at home, not to mention that this girl is pretty and gentle. Hearing this, he said, "Do you want to worship Buddha? We have it too!"

Miss Jiang's ninth daughter opened her eyes wide: "Your family also has a temple?"

Just as Zhun Ge was about to answer, he saw Jie Xiang coming over with a group of maids.

They carried flower baskets filled with bunches of pomegranate flowers, hostas, jasmine and gardenias.

Several people knelt down and saluted Zhun Ge and others.

Zhun Ge pointed at Jie Xiang and said to Miss Jiang's Ninth Sister, "This is my second aunt's personal servant, her name is Jie Xiang."

Everyone had known for a long time that the Jiang family's wives and daughters were coming to visit, and she knelt down and bowed to the ninth daughter of the Jiang family.

Miss Jiang called out "Sister Jiexiang" and looked at the fragrant white gardenia in her arms with envy: "What kind of flower is this? It's so beautiful!"

"These are gardenias." Jie Xiang picked a few large ones and gave them to the ninth young lady of the Jiang family. "They are grown in our greenhouse. They are common in the south, but very rare in our north."

The ninth young lady of the Jiang family happily took the flowers, took a deep breath, and said with a smile: "No wonder I didn't recognize him!" Her tone was so loud that everyone laughed.

Mother Du smiled and asked Jiexiang: "What are you going to do with all these flowers?"

Jiexiang said, "The Second Madam wants to make some flower dew."

Mother Du didn't ask any more questions, but Miss Jiang's Ninth Daughter was very interested and asked Zhun Ge, "Can I go and watch how the flower dew is made? When I came, our fourth sister was making flower dew according to dad's collection of books... I didn't see it when I came here!" She looked at Zhun Ge with her eyes blinking, which was very cute.

Zhun Ge immediately said, "What's wrong with that? My second aunt often makes floral dew at home. She makes different floral dews for different seasons. She also makes incense." He led the ninth young lady of the Jiang family to Shaohua Courtyard.

Mother Du and others were taking their children out to play, so it didn't matter where they went.

Xu Siyu has been staying at home studying these days. He hasn't seen the second wife for some time and wants to go and visit her.

Sister Zhen is half the host and should be treated warmly.

The group went to the second lady with smiles on their faces.

Shaohuayuan hasn't been this lively for a long time.

The second lady served them fruits and homemade cakes.

The golden ** cakes, the white and fragrant yuzhi cakes, the red pomegranate cakes, the candied apples, the cowhide wrappers, the willow leaf candies... and the emerald green West Lake Longjing tea.

The ninth young lady of the Jiang family smiled so hard that her eyes curved.

Xu Siyu took the opportunity to ask the second wife for advice on his homework. Zhen Jieer was afraid that Xu Sijie would quarrel, so she whispered to Zhun Ge and Miss Jiang's ninth daughter, "Let's go play in the bamboo forest."

The ninth daughter of the Jiang family often encountered people asking her father for help with his homework. She knew that she couldn't say anything, so she nodded repeatedly.

Zhen Jieer asked Xiaoli to pick up a few snacks each, put them on a red and gold-painted crabapple flower stand, and then took Xu Sijie's hand to go to the bamboo forest.

Several people sat down on the stone table and stone pier in the bamboo forest, eating snacks and drinking tea. The ninth daughter of the Jiang family talked about her own family affairs, and Zhun Ge talked about Mr. Zhao. Everyone was talking to each other, and they were having a great time.

Mother Du watched from the side with great joy.

In the end, the ninth lady of the Jiang family still didn't see how the flower dew was made, but she received a bottle of rose and lily scented dew and a bottle of peony and osmanthus scented dew from the second wife.

Mrs. Jiang, who was returning home in a carriage, smelled it and praised: "I never thought that there are people who can make such a wonderful perfume. At first it smells like roses, but when I smell it carefully, it smells like lilies."

The ninth daughter of the Jiang family heard this and called out "mother" repeatedly. She opened her eyes like black agate and said, "Second aunt also talked about the Analects with brother Yu."

Mrs. Jiang looked at her daughter and smiled, her eyes full of love: "Does Sese like Brother Zhun's house?"

The ninth young lady of the Jiang family, whose maiden name was Sese, nodded repeatedly: "I like it!"

Mrs. Jiang, who was sitting nearby, looked at her brother and sister-in-law and laughed, "This is what we call a marriage destined by heaven!"

Mrs. Jiang said nothing, but stroked her daughter's black hair, her movements gentle and even with a hint of pity.

Over there, the Fifth Lady took off her light blue gauze shirt with a tired look, revealing her goose yellow waistband embroidered with bright red twined flowers.

"The weather is getting hotter and hotter." There was a hint of complaint in his tone.

Mother Shi smiled and took the clothes she had taken off and handed them to the maid beside her, then picked up the wrung towel and helped Madam Wu wipe her body.

"The Fifth Master is on duty in the palace tonight, so let the nurse bring Xin Jie'er to my room to rest!"

Mother Shi smiled and replied "yes", and told the maid to pass on the message.

The Fifth Lady then thought of something: "The last time I went back, my father told me that he was going to ask for permission to confer the title of Crown Prince on Wei Ge. I wonder how it's going?"

"How can it be so fast!" Mother Shi laughed, "The title of Marquis is hereditary. We have to petition the Emperor and the Ministry of Rites. The earliest it can be done is next spring." Then she put a gauze shirt with silver stripes on the Fifth Madam.

The Fifth Lady, however, seemed to remember something and curled her lips in a half-smile.

Mother Shi's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly said with a smile, "The Marquis originally chose Master Wei because he is straightforward and gets along well with Madam. Moreover, Master Wei has been very filial to the Marquis in the past few years..."

"I know." The Fifth Lady interrupted Mama Shi absentmindedly, "I was thinking about Zhun Ge... It seems that the Marquis is going to ask for an imperial decree to confer the title of Crown Prince on Zhun Ge. I wonder what Eleventh Lady will think when she knows this?" As she spoke, she pursed her lips and smiled.

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I took a day off today and went to buy New Year’s goods, so I’m late... Sorry, sorry!